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Ferrari attacked for unfair testing advantage
Ferrari have been accused of gaining unfair advantage by testing heavily this season after they stunned their rivals with a dramatic comeback.
Ferrari have been accused of gaining unfair advantage by testing heavily this season after they stunned their rivals with a dramatic comeback in the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday.
Michael Schumacher, a finisher in only one of the first three races, surged through the field into second at Imola after pushing winner Fernando Alonso, of Renault, all the way in a thrilling race.
But the Italian giants benefited from their refusal to join a gentlemen s agreement to limit in-season testing to 30 days their critics say and their move could now force some teams to break their promise and return to a full testing programme.
BAR-Honda team chief Nick Fry, whose driver Jenson Button finished third, said: "Frankly I'm glad Alonso won because if Ferrari had won it would have been a hollow victory and I would have felt very sorry for Renault.
"It would have been fairly un-sportsmanlike in some ways had Ferrari revelled in a victory when we have handicapped ourselves deliberately by (limiting testing) to keep costs down. Ferrari are flaunting that and this is the result.
BAR have done more testing than any other team, but Ferrari have done 85 percent more miles than we have by totally ignoring the gentleman's agreement between the teams and putting themselves in a better position.
"Ferrari undoubtedly will start winning because you cannot test in the way they test with their resources and not benefit versus the rest of us. It was inevitable they would come back."
Ferrari chose not to sign up to the testing agreement because they claim to have concentrated their resources on testing, with two private test tracks and a full test team, rather than in other areas of development.
The nine other teams insisted at the start of the season that they would remain committed to their cause, but Toyota president John Howett, whose team are currently second behind Renault in the championship, does not expect that to last.
Howett said: "I think the agreement has already (started to break down) because I don't think Ferrari's competitors can just sit there and accept them driving into the distance.
"Either Ferrari must join the remaining teams or we need to find some sort of compromise where there is an equivalence. Otherwise people will start to test remorselessly.
"I think everyone is saying that we feel everything we are doing is correct and right but Ferrari's (testing schedule) will force others to do the same. It is a question of common sense."
BAR have benefited from a heavy testing programme but they have still limited running in comparison to Ferrari, who piled all their efforts in the last three weeks into curing their problems from the opening races.
The Italian team tested with their rivals at Barcelona in the week after the Bahrain Grand Prix then worked behind closed doors in Mugello and Fiorano before testing at Monza in the week of the San Marino race.
BAR only had two tests, in Barcelona and Paul Ricard, but made dramatic improvements and Fry said: "We expected a podium in Imola and it wasn't a surprise to get it.
"Now we just need to get from third to first, and I have no doubt that we will do it. We are 100 percent confident that we have the depth of resources and the people to do the job. We should be able to do the next step again. We have yet more bits to put on the car in Spain and we are extremely confident.
"We have access to all the technical resources of Honda in Japan and they are just determined to win and we'll do what it takes."
